Resource

Ten household living labs study – results summary

Houses designed to be energy and water efficient often do not perform as intended. One of the reasons for this is occupant behaviour. Rebound effects and lack of awareness mean that behaviour and practices need to be addressed as part of the strategies to reduce emissions in the residential sector. While the design is important to minimise resource consumption in the house, the way houses are used can have an equal effect on performance. However, energy and water use in households are still poorly understood and so are the effects of behaviour change strategies.This research confirmed that energy efficient or ‘waterwise’ houses do not always perform optimally. Modifying the way houses are operated daily can make a great impact on performance and bills. Real-life monitoring systems can help detect failures and inform households to ensure that resources are not wasted. It is important that real-life monitoring is engaging, user-friendly and meets household needs so they are frequently used.

Industry misconceptions around high cost and poor market interest in energy efficient homes continue to obstruct the mass adoption of low carbon housing. Josh’s House demonstrates that low carbon housing is accessible and cost effective. The Star Performers series showcases how...Read more

Technology is partly a tool to make life easier or better but increasingly it's focused on developing powerful communications media that are also capable of changing behaviour. An example of this is the use of gamification and visual capability by the City of Brisbane's...Read more

When South Eastern Australia was in severe drought at the beginning of the century, a whole array of efforts went into addressing the water shortage. Councils introduced, and then increased, water restrictions. Government handed out low-flow showerheads and shower timers,...Read more

This report provides an introduction to the automated monitoring of residential buildings for the purpose of data collection for research purposes and end user feedback. A series of short case studies are presented describing projects from around Australia that are utilising various types performance monitoring equipment. A detailed case study of the performance monitoring activitiesbeing undertaken...

Recent research has found that low-emission buildings do not necessarily meet their full theoretical energy saving potential and one of the reasons for this discrepancy is related to occupancy. Inside the building, users interact with technologies and are influenced by everyday practice and subsequent behaviour.This research aims to unravel the...

Recent research has demonstrated that low-emission houses often underperform, consuming more energy than predicted by their designs. Life cycle assessments (LCA) have been employed to complement mandatory energy assessments, as they offer a more comprehensive evaluation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the building lifespan. This research monitored ten energy...